Expert View: Winning Back the Talent

The financial industry has accumulated a series of black eyes in recent years, for everything from the role that mortgage-backed securities played in the Great Recession to the scandal over LIBOR, and mutual fund and ETF managers and providers haven't escaped the damage. Because the causes of the financial crisis were broad, so, too, has been the fallout - and asset managers have much to do to attract the top young talent they need to support social media and other tech developments that are now so important to their business.

With so much negative publicity, it is no wonder that recruitment and retention in the financial services industry, including money management firms, have been adversely affected. The calculus is ominous. The percentage of elite college grads heading into financial services has steadily declined in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, New York magazine recently reported, citing Princeton's experience: just 11.5% of the class of 2012 went to Wall Street, compared with 46% in 2006. Some of the chief beneficiaries of this shift have been tech companies.